Was John F. Kennedy a good president?

Answer 1

YES! Most emphatically. According to at least 14 polls conducted since 1982 among U.S. historians and political scientists, John F. Kennedy has consistently ranked in either the 1st quartile or 2nd quartile of American presidents, below near great but decidedly above average.

The most recent survey, in 2010 by the Siena Research Institute, ranks him at 11th among the nation's 44 chief executives to date. Kennedy ranks just below Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower, and just above Presidents James Polk and Andrew Jackson (Bill Clinton, interestingly enough, is ranked 13th).

Factors that have contributed to his above average ranking have included his ability to communicate and inspire; his appointment of talented and able people to positions of importance in government; his successful stewardship of the country through major foreign policy crises--such as over Berlin and Cuba; the start of detente with the Soviet Union--via the Limited Test Ban Treaty and the sale of grain to the USSR; his innovations in economic policy--via a Keynesian tax cut, wage and price guidelines and the expansion of trade; and his support for civil rights through 1) sponsoring major legislation to outlaw discrimination and segregation, 2) his ending segregation in federal housing and interstate transportation, 3) his establishing affirmative action in federal hiring and in the award of contracts, 4) his enforcing the lawful enrollment of black students at the Universities of Mississipi and Alabama, and 5) the aggressive legal action by his Justice Department in the courts to end discrimination.

As might be expected, because of his deceit in portraying himself as an exemplary husband in public, while living a licentious and at times reckless private life, Kennedy has among the lowest rankings in integrity. The fact that his illnesses were kept secret, though, does not seem to influence the perception of him as an effective leader.

Answer 2

YES! Most emphatically. According to at least 14 polls conducted since 1982 among U.S. historians and political scientists, John F. Kennedy has consistently ranked in either the 1st quartile or 2nd quartile of American presidents, below near great but decidedly above average.

The most recent survey, in 2010 by the Siena Research Institute, ranks him at 11th among the nation's 44 chief executives to date. Kennedy ranks just below Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower, and just above Presidents James Polk and Andrew Jackson (Bill Clinton, interestingly enough, is ranked 13th).

Factors that have contributed to his above average ranking have included his ability to communicate and inspire; his appointment of talented and able people to positions of importance in government; his successful stewardship of the country through major foreign policy crises--such as over Berlin and Cuba; the start of detente with the Soviet Union--via the Limited Test Ban Treaty and the sale of grain to the USSR; his innovations in economic policy--via a Keynesian tax cut, wage and price guidelines and the expansion of trade; and his support for civil rights through 1) sponsoring major legislation to outlaw discrimination and segregation, 2) his ending segregation in federal housing and interstate transportation, 3) his establishing affirmative action in federal hiring and in the award of contracts, 4) his enforcing the lawful enrollment of black students at the Universities of Mississipi and Alabama, and 5) the aggressive legal action by his Justice Department in the courts to end discrimination.

As might be expected, because of his deceit in portraying himself as an exemplary husband in public, while living a licentious and at times reckless private life, Kennedy has among the lowest rankings in integrity. The fact that his illnesses were kept secret, though, does not seem to influence the perception of him as an effective leader.